Tripiti in Milos

Tripiti is a small picturesque village on the northern side of the island of Milos, two km south of the village of Plaka. It's earned its name (tripiti means 'the one with holes') from its soft volcanic rock formations. It's next to the ancient catacombs and the ancient Roman theatre

There is a large number of old windmills which were used for wheat and seed grinding, but have now become studios or hotel apartments.

 

Right at the center of the town, sits the imposing church of Agios Nikolaos

The bus deposited us by this interesting new build

which had a miniature windmill in its garden

We started walking

the church ahead of us.

Tripiti is famous for the views it affords of the whole of the island, so we thought this taverna would be a good place to eat, but unfortunately, it was closed because it was Sunday

We saw that there are a lot of abandoned houses in the village - I guess, young people move elsewhere where there are jobs and maybe a more exciting way of life

in a lot of the abandoned houses the doors had been replaced by pieces of cardboard that had doors painted on them

the church of Agios Nicholaos

the local primary school

the local pizza (?) place

views of the sea from a side street

another painted on door. I have never seen this before

complicated entrance to a house

a fancy restaurant - we were approached by the hostesse. We learnt in Milos that the restaurants that have a hostesse get very busy and consequently chaotic - have not come across this before, but quite a common occurence in this island

Interesting - definite Picasso influence there

the view from the restaurant

we continued straight ahead, did not know where this would take us

very nice

a steep downhill,. and we could see the sea ahead of us

nice mini-courtyard, even if somehow 'distressed'

some of the houses are nicely made-up

We stopped here to admire the kittens and to ask where the road we were on was leading. We were told that the best policy would be to retrace our steps so this is what we did.

We got back to where the bus had dropped us off, and we could see the hill with the village of Plaka nestling on its side, and the castle and church at the top.

By now it was time for our evening meal so had a look at this taverna, The Drunken City,  which had been recommended, but decided against it.

Walked past this house,

past this renovated windmill

and ended up at Glaronisia - a good choice

 

at its rooftop bar, where we had a drink and watched the sunset over the sea

and then moved downstairs in their taverna where we had a delicious meal. It was so good, that three days later we came back to Tripiti for the bar and taverna.

While waiting for the bus, we decided that all bus stops should have a free exchange library like this one.

Plaka in Milos

Plaka is the capital of Milos and the largest village. It's a typical Cycladic settlement with whitewashed houses, narrow lanes, churches and a medieval castle on top of the hill.

A small church near where the bus dropped us off

it's quite a haul to get to the old part of the village

so we started walking

views of the village of Tripiti from here

and we continued climbing

This is the way to the castle but we heard whilst on the bus that there was a church fair on that day and we were keen to take part in that

so we continued towards the main square

and still climbing

I love these arches

We got to the main square

which is full of bars, cafes and restaurants

but more seating was being set up in preparation for the fair which was due to start at 9:00

views of the top of the hill, its church and the castle, and also, lower down, Archondula, the taverna where we ended up eating

even though it was still early, lots of people were eating. This is also Archondula, the sister taverna to the one above

Fun ceramics in one of the shops we went into

Up the stairs and a door to the balcony

It was getting sunset time, so down this alleyway

to the Utopia cafe, the best place to watch the sunset in comfort with a drink in our hand.

But, things have changed since eight years ago, and everyone knows about Utopia now, so absolutely no places to sit, and a long queue of people waiting. I said to the waiter: 'I presume that as in the past, once the sun disappears everyone will get up and go?' He said: 'yes, some of them queue for two hours to get a seat, but once the sun is down you should be ok'.

So we went to the church, 

where, from its balcony you can watch the sun setting 

over the sea and the end of the bay which used to be the volcano's crater

I sat on the ledge, and enjoyed...

We then moved on

found this shop 

where the guy took the most amazing photographs

and his colleague made beautiful jewellery

The square was getting quite busy by then

But we chose to go to Utopia, found a table right by the front

and enjoyed the view until it got too dark to see anything.

By then it was time to eat, and we tried Archondoula, but no tables available for a long time

So we tried the other Archondoula and by a miracle, found a table. Our waiter, when he came to serve us said: 'do you realise how lucky you were?' and I said,  we did indeed.  Lucky in more ways than one, 

as right in front of us, the festival was in full swing.

The band played right in front of us

and we could see all the people dancing

By then the whole of the village square was packed, people standing listening to the band and watching the dancing.

The children started first

and they were later joined by the adults.

It was such a fun evening.

Three days later we went back to Plaka and chose Diporto for our evening meal.